The world will not fall apart if you do this…

August 20, 2015 By

ImagineLast month my article was about reaching for the stars.  This month it’s about not being afraid to run with the horses and step up your game.  What do I mean by that?  Well, quite honestly there are so many people who say that they want to do something, yet do absolutely nothing. Talk, talk, talk but no action.

Have you been there?  Have you ever noticed a time that you talked a great game, but didn’t follow through?  Sure, you have – we all have.  So what makes some people a “get-up-and-go, get it done” type person and others a “Yeah, right” person?  There are a lot of reasons but mostly it’s about fear… or lack thereof.  Fear of many things; fear of success, fear of failure, fear of what other people might/will say (I know that one very intimately), fear of feeling like a fool… you get the picture.

Well then, how do you run with the big guns feeling confident, self-assured and full of motivation to get things done to reach your goals?  It’s not as hard as you think.  No, really it isn’t.  I can speak from experience here that’s for sure.

For many years I wanted to make a career move and talked about it, but never did anything about it. Until finally one day I had had enough – enough of hearing my own voice talk, talk, talk.  What held me back was fear of what others would say… and also fear of making mistakes and feeling stupid.  One day I just said “I’m not doing this anymore” and there was no more worry about what if (the world came apart, I had no money, I didn’t have insurance).  All of those things ceased to matter.

So how can you make the changes that deep down you want, yet feel too much fear about doing?  First, there is a saying “Feel the fear and do it any way.” While I am not going to discount that, there is a little more to it than it sounds.  Here are several tips for you:

  • Imagine the best thing(s) that could happen for you because you had the courage to reach for your stars. Visualize how you will feel, what you will be doing and tap into all the great things you want for yourself, your family and your life (business too).  The great news is that our minds cannot distinguish from what is real or imagined – so imagine away!
  • Write out what you want on paper. Be super specific here and do not hold back.  I do suggest pen and paper because there is something special that begins to happen.  You really begin to tap into the feelings of what it will be like when you have your goals realized.  This part is a lot of fun.  Play up the ‘what if’ game and think about the amazing things that will happen for you.
  • Make a decision to do one thing that will move you closer to what you imagined. Then put that into an action-able form.  Being decisive is the first step to moving into action.  Once you decide, then you can easily create your next steps to reaching your goals.

These will help you get started.  And what happens once you get started?  Yes, a body in motion stays in motion.  The beauty here is that once you begin, you’ll want to continue. You’ll be in the feeling of possibility, and then opportunities will show up seemingly out of nowhere.  Then you’ll be taking actions that you might not have while you were in the fear frame of mind.

Get out of your fear and get into faith: faith that you can do it and you can have what you want.  Life is meant to be fun and enjoyable.  Think about it, would you rather be in fear, worry and dread or be in joy, excitement and courage?

As many of my clients know, taking action leads to results, the results lead to the success, and the success leads to happiness.  So my friend, by when will you sit down and go through the steps I gave you to do?  Make a date with yourself by the end of the month – do it this weekend! – and lay out your next grand adventure.  When you do, be sure to drop me a note at kim@kimravida.com to let me know what your next action is going to be for you to reach your goals.  Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post below here on my blog!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , ,

Got things to do?

August 6, 2015 By

Bucket with notes featuring things to do in the future with clipping path at original size

In order to get to where you want to go, you just have to get moving. If you think “I’ll do it when…” then guess what? When will never come.  Never.  Do you need to hear it again? When will never come.

You have to get moving right now! The smallest movement will begin the momentum of helping you get to where you want to go.

When I teach my group exercise class we start simply by moving: marching in place and breathing, or sometimes just taking a few breaths is all we need to get the momentum going.  Once we are in action, it’s easy to stay in action. When I coach my clients, we start by taking a moment to celebrate what action they have accomplished and then we move on to what they want to accomplish next.  Did you catch that?  We move on.  There is no standing still in life or in business! 

We get in, get going and get done.

I use this method in my own business too (of course!) especially when I’m feeling like I have to wait for the right moment.  When I catch myself stalling, I say “Just get into it, get started and get done!” It never fails me.

Even if you feel that you need to do something to educate yourself before taking action — like reading up about a foreign country before going there – then do it.  Start now! Make the time to get the learning in which will keep you motivated enough to actually take your trip.

You’ll be delighted with the results!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

Reach for the Stars!

July 23, 2015 By

Young woman pulling bright starsI’d love to pose a question.  What are your thoughts on being realistic?

Many times in my past I was told, “Kim, you need to be realistic.”  And so I would be.  But what did I get?  Lots of nothing.  I never stepped out of my comfort zone.  It wasn’t until I recognized I was a people pleaser that I realized those people — who I was trying to please — were actually holding me back by telling me to be realistic.

So what is realistic anyway? Realistic is defined as sensible, practical, reasonable.

But sometimes you need to not be sensible in order to soar.  Be outrageous and think really big, abandon practical, and embrace what might feel like the impossible.  You need to break from being reasonable, and to be a bit awkward, in order to grow and do new things.

See, being realistic can hold us back.  Abraham-Hicks says that being realistic can root us firmly to where we are.  I truly do not know any person who wants to absolutely, without question, stay where they are.  Everyone wants more in and for their life.

Let’s say you have a goal of being a six-figure business owner and you are currently making $10,000.  If you think “Realistically, can I be a six-figure business owner?” you can easily determine that no, you can’t.  However, if you think “OK, I’m going to go for the moon here and aim for six figures and I’ll do this, this and this to get there” then you have successfully broken free of being realistic!  You allowed yourself to step into a bigger version of yourself and what is in store for you.

Being realistic keeps us in a space where often we do not want to be.  As Jack Canfield says you have to take 100% responsibility for yourself.  So I encourage you to stop being realistic about your life and your goals and go for what you truly want.  When you do that you’ll be thinking what is the best thing that could happen?

I don’t know about you, but I sure enjoy my life more reaching for the moon!

So what do you think?  Post below on my blog or email me at kim@kimravida.com to share!

Okay, I get it.  Sometimes reality does bite.  So if you are unhappy with the reality of your bank account balance and want to have more money to help you reach for the moon and the stars, my Grow Your Money Tree Program is for you.  Click here to find out more!

Filed Under: Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Do you have a healthy relationship with money?

July 9, 2015 By

u.s. dollar banknote in heart shapeI’m passionate about health.  When we talk about health though, we are usually referring to our physical condition.  But health can be used for other areas of our life as well, like a healthy relationship with our spouse, children, friends, colleagues and so on.  You may very well be aware of that and even strive to have both — a healthy physical condition as well as healthy relationships.

Here’s another area to think about.  Do you have a healthy relationship with money or are you constantly feeling stress, strife and conflict around money?  Do you say:  “I don’t have enough”, “I can’t afford that”, “Money’s hard to make”?  If so, this plays havoc in your life and even double havoc if you happen to be a business owner!

I too had an unhealthy relationship with money.  I constantly felt and talked about never having enough money, having a hard time making money and how I couldn’t do things or have experiences because I didn’t have the money.  ARGH – it was not only depressing but each day in my business was a struggle!

Fortunately, I realized I was doing this to myself and feeling this way… and I knew something needed to change.  What I was doing obviously wasn’t working and I didn’t want to stay frustrated and in struggle any longer!  Also as a fitness instructor (at the time) and a coach helping people make changes in their lives, I knew it was important for me to make a big change and finally get a handle on my money!

I began paying attention to those thoughts and feelings I was having, and what I was telling myself and others about not having enough money.  And by taking small, specific actions I was able to change my harmful relationship with money to one that is healthy and life altering.

Here are a few things I learned that will help you:

  • The number one thing you must do is to value money!  It is vital to your success in having a healthy relationship with money.  If you don’t value something, you are basically saying “it’s not important”.
  • Create powerful, empowering money habits.  A few examples are to track your income daily or weekly, set up a debt repayment plan and a regular savings plan.
  • Pay your bills on time or even early.  Yes, really.

Those are just a very small sampling of what I discovered.  They worked so well that I began coaching my life and business clients to adopt healthy habits around money too.

Through my personal — and also my clients’ – experiences, I realized that what I had discovered was so amazing and life-changing that I simply had to share it with more people.  I decided to take what I know and put it into a program… and I did. It’s called Grow Your Money Tree and I just launched it this week! Check it out because it might be exactly what you’re looking for and it’s being offered with Super Early Bird Pricing!

https://kimravida.com/grow-your-money-tree-home-study-program/

 

Filed Under: Money Habits, Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

Truly, it’s ALL an excuse!

June 25, 2015 By

I’ve always been interested in making things – life, business, health, etc. – better for myself and for other people.

Over the years I have worked with so many clients — and had lots of friends — who say they are going to make things better in their lives.  Things such as lose weight, get healthier, get a new job, save more money, stop spending, do a household budget, take a vacation, have more time to spend with kids, parents, family, friends.  Yet, they don’t follow through on what they say.  Why?

What I realized is that man, there are a lot of excuses out there!  Here are some of the things that not only my clients and others are saying, but I’ve said too:

  • I can’t.
  • I have no time.
  • I have too much to do.
  • I don’t have enough money.
  • I need to learn how to do x first.
  • The weather is too cold/hot/whatever (yes, I’ve heard this).

Well, let me tell you exactly what these are…these are just excuses – and we all make them.  Because when we truly want to do something, we’ll do it.  When we really, really want something, we find a way to make it happen.

Why, then, do we make excuses?

Many of us fool ourselves into thinking it will be hard or we don’t like change or it’s going to take too much time.  And oh yeah, there can be a lot of that “F” word – FEAR!  Fear of lots of things.

Some of us know underneath and down inside, though, that we can’t be trusted to follow through.

Ouch!

For years we have let ourselves down by saying one thing and doing another.  This creates not only a pattern of negativity but also sends a message to our subconscious that we can’t be trusted.  So why bother getting started, we won’t be successful anyway.  Right?  Let’s make it wrong!

Look, we all know people who are successful at whatever they set out to do, so what makes them different?  They trust themselves to do what they say they are going to do… even if it’s hard.

Here are a few tips to break the negative pattern so you can begin to trust yourself, too:

  1. Pick something small to do and when you’ll do it – like walk around the block in the morning or read for ten minutes this evening — and write it down. Then do it!
  2. When you’ve done it…do a happy dance and pat yourself on the back! Yes, reinforcement does work!
  3. Do this for several weeks and then take on bigger goals. Soon you’ll be proving to yourself that you can be trusted.
  4. Enlist the help of a trusted friend or hire a coach to help support you and keep you accountable to yourself. Often, just having an outside source is enough to keep the fire lit through completion.
  5. Keep a journal or list of how you are doing so you can see that yes, indeed, you are following through.

When you finally show yourself that you can be trusted, the sky is the limit!  You’ll be done with excuses and reaching your goals faster and with more joy.

When you do, post below on my blog or email me at kim@kimravida.com to share your success and elation!

 

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Achieving or OVERachieving?

June 11, 2015 By

Speedometer - Exceeding Expectations of Your CustomersAchieving your goal(s) is a feeling like no other.  When you reach what you have been striving for, there is no better feeling.  Just ask an Olympic athlete or a professional athlete who has won the biggest trophy in their sport.  Ask anyone who has triumphed over adversity.

Achieve means to attain, get, realize, reach, complete and pull off.  Sounds pretty amazing, right?  So then, I wanted to know what does overachieving mean?  I did a little research and it means:  Do better than expected, to perform better or be more successful than expected.  Well, that doesn’t sound all that bad! Why do we tend to think that overachieving is derogatory?

But wait a second, how is it to “do better than expected”?  If I just achieve, am I saying I’ll settle for less than what I really want?  Not exactly.  I’m not necessarily overachieving if I’m doing what I expect, am I?

That didn’t sit well with me.

I found another way to look at overachieving and this made sense to me:  “To be excessively or unhealthily dedicated to achieving success.”  It’s not in the achieving or doing better than you anticipated when the “over” comes in to play, but in the excessive or unhealthy manner of achieving your goals/outcomes.

The differences between achieving and overachieving are in the approach.  If you are to be great at what you do, you need to dedicate time, resources and yourself to your pursuit.  Yet, often in that pursuit there is a moment when the achieving crosses the line into overachieving.

If you find yourself constantly working, overdoing things, and being obsessive and compulsive about making sure things are just so, chances are you are an OVERachiever.  There is nothing wrong with achieving – we should all strive to achieve — but overachieving pretty much defeats and overshadows that act of achieving.

Many of my clients are in overachieving-mode, never satisfied with the pursuit of the goal or even the attainment of it.  They are on to the next thing without acknowledging what they have accomplished, big or small.

To the OVERacheivers out there, I highly suggest you keep an accomplishment log and review it often so that you can see all that you are accomplishing… and slow down to enjoy your successes.

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Be confident and believe!

May 21, 2015 By

Believe You Can You're Halfway There Words Saying QuoteOne thing I realized when I first started to teach was that no matter what, I had to act as if I belonged in front of the room. So even if my inner gremlin was saying to me “Who do you think you are? You have no idea what you’re doing” or “You have no business teaching these people,” I had to put that voice aside and act as if I did belong there and that I did know what I was doing.

Truth be told, it wasn’t always easy. See, even if I made a mistake, I just kept going. I didn’t dwell on it in my head and I proceeded on. I acted like the expert… and well, I was. I was the one standing in the front of the room presenting my knowledge and my material. It was probably one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. But it was one of the most important things, too.

I was able to do this because I had learned that the number one secret to success is not what you know, what you do or how you do it… the secret to success is in your head. Your mindset. If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, well… you can’t.

Much has been written on mindset over the years. We have quotes from Henry Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt and the story of The Little Engine That Could, and yet we continue to talk ourselves out of success. We don’t give ourselves the credit to be confident. We believe we are less worthy others.

Oh boy, I seem to have gotten on a soap box. Well, while I am here, I might as well keep going.

I’ve taught numerous classes over the years and worked with many people in groups and individual settings. One thing I observe over and over is that there is a point where people will take themselves out of the game. They decide that they can’t do whatever it is they are asked to do… or even what they want to do. It truly isn’t that they can’t physically or mentally accomplish it; instead, they take themselves out psychologically. Their mindset is that they aren’t good enough or nor worthy.

But I always know that they can. I’ve seen countless expressions of amazement, astonishment and sheer joy when they do what they formerly believed they could not. I’ve shared in the tears and laughter when they realize they are greater than they once believed they were.

So the next time you think “I can’t do that”, I invite you to act as if you can and then do it. Because once you realize you can, there will be no stopping you.

Here are a few suggestions for you as you embark on your personal success track:

  1. Act as if. Act as if you can do or do know what you need to know in order to get it done.  Give yourself a pep talk. Simply saying “I can do this” or “I’ve got this” will help.
  2. Visualize yourself successful. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Visualize yourself being successful, whatever that is for you. Put yourself in the place you are going and see yourself standing tall and confident and acting from a place of empowerment.
  3. Make a list of your strengths. List those things which you know you are good at and read them daily. By keeping your strengths front and center, it will be easy to step into them any time you need to.

Truly, to be successful you have to be the greatest version of you that you already are!  You already are strong, confident and successful; you might just need to remind yourself of that.

Need more help acting as if and being your authentic self, I can help you.  Email me at kim @ kimravida.com.  And if you want to share your experiences or even tips, please post them below here on my blog!

 

Filed Under: Self Worth Tagged With: , , , ,

Stop Automatically Listening to Others!

May 7, 2015 By

stop listeningOne thing I know for sure is that the best way to create stress in your life is to live your life according to someone else.  I know this because that is exactly what I did for many years.  I listened to what other people told me and I believed that they knew better than I did.

For me, I had a self-confidence issue.  I wasn’t confident in myself at all.  So when someone told me something – anything — I took it to be true, believed it and did it.  As in, I stayed with a job that was horrible, abusive and stressful for many years because I was told by my loved ones that I “had a good job”.  Of course they would say that!  They were on the outside looking in.  They saw I worked at a stable company, got paid well, had great benefits and so on.  What they couldn’t understand was how poorly I was treated on a daily basis, how stressful and negative the environment was, and how unsupporting management was.  My loved ones didn’t know my true feelings because they didn’t live my life.

Makes sense right?  Yet, because I didn’t believe in myself, I listened to them.  They must know better, than me.  They must know more because they are older than me.  They must know because of their experience.  That is what I thought!

I know better now.  There is no way they could know because they are not me.  My father had a saying “You don’t know what someone is going through unless you walk in their shoes, and since you only walk in your shoes be careful about judging someone else.”  Oh, this is so true!  We must be careful to not judge.  Because honestly, who are we to say what someone else should or shouldn’t do?

If only I knew then that my loved-ones couldn’t know better than me – about me – because they weren’t walking in my shoes.

If you are reading this, more than likely you are looking to clear your stress.  I have news for you that you might not like, but it is valuable.  If you bring it into your life, you’ll eliminate lots of your stress immediately.  Stop automatically listening to others.

Often people give us wonderful information that we might not have discovered and learned on our own — but you need to question, “Is this true for me?”  Also question who told you that, and are they the best person for you to listen to?  Can they absolutely know what you are going through, what you need to do, what you want to do?  Have they walked in your shoes?  Are they really trying to help or are they afraid that by you making a change, they will also have to change?  (That’s biggie and a topic for another day.)

Please remember, you are truly the only person who can decide what is best for you!  And that will go a long way to removing and clearing your stress in your life.

Filed Under: Personal Development, Self Worth

3 Secrets to Money Success

April 23, 2015 By

MoneyI love secrets!  But what is a secret? It’s something we usually can’t or don’t tell another.  Well, a secret can also be something that is undisclosed or hush-hush.  When it comes to women and money there are lots of secrets in the way of if you don’t tell or talk about it, it ain’t happening.

Well, I’ve got news for you, it IS happening and that usually isn’t good.  So I want to share with you three secrets.  Once I disclose these to you, and you know about them, you’ll be on your way to money success and happiness!

Secret #1:  Discover Your Money Patterns and Behaviors.  In other words, this is how you “do” money consciously or unconsciously.  And believe me, when it comes to money we all do things unconsciously.  You probably say you want more money and to be better at money.  Well, in order to have money success, you need to look at your patterns and behaviors.  One of the ways to identify your patterns and behaviors is to understand your money archetypes.  Archetypes represent a pattern of power within you.  Meaning stories, beliefs, motivations, fears, courage and perspectives.  They speak to you through your subconscious.  When you are aware of your money patterns, you’ll be able to see objectively how you handle your money: your spending and saving patterns, your decisions around money, what you do and what you don’t do. Ultimately you will be better at money so that you can start making the changes you want.

Secret #2:  Create a Positive Money Story.  What is your money story?  A money story is the narrative you tell yourself about money.  Some examples are:  Money is hard to make, I’m not good with money, money doesn’t grow on trees, and things of that nature.  Take a few moments and write down what the money story is that you grew up with.  Is it one that is serving you or is it holding you back?  If it isn’t serving you, change it!  You have the power to change what you believe about money.  Now, there is way more to this topic and when I work with my private clients, we go through several exercises to really get clear on this and to heal ingrained money beliefs and legacies.  But for now, just start thinking about what you want your money story to be right here in the present.

Secret #3:  Empower Your Voice.  Empower means:  Authorize – Allow – Sanction – Give Power to – Make Powerful.  What this means for YOU is that you get to do all those things for yourself.  By authorizing yourself, allowing yourself, sanctioning yourself to be, do and have all that you want, you give power to yourself (and make yourself powerful) simply by connecting with – and creating a healthy relationship with – your money.  Empowering Your Voice is about being confident to speak up for what you want and to get what you want.  Again, this is the tip of the iceberg here and when I work with my private clients we go through a very powerful exercise that has them empowering their voice in so many amazing and unsuspecting ways.  I’ve had women who, after going through the exercise with me, decide to stop hiding out from their spouses.  They finally have what they felt were hard conversations about money but which turned out to bring them closer to their spouse.  I’ve had clients leave jobs they were unhappy in and find ones that made their heart sing.  There is no telling what can come from Empowering Your Voice.  For you, right now, just think about what is it you want and then ask for it — speak up and declare it!  You won’t be sorry, I will guarantee that.

Once you embrace these 3 Secrets to Money Success, you will be on your way to your financial freedom, inner self-worth and money success!

If you are interested in learning more about your Money Archetypes which I mentioned in Secret #1, and taking your very own personalized money archetype assessment, email me at kim@kimravida.com and put in the subject “I want to know my Money Archetypes.”  Yes, it’s that easy!

Do you have ‘secrets’ about money? Do you know your patterns? What’s your money story?  Post them below!

Filed Under: Money Habits, Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , ,

Yup, procrastination gets you every time!

April 9, 2015 By

Right time, right place in wood typeDid you ever drag your feet on doing something and when you finally did it you thought, “Now why didn’t I do that sooner?” Or “I wish I did that sooner”?  Yes, probably most of us have.  The beauty is to remember that you did it and therefore can feel good about it.

Yet… there can also be a benefit to waiting. Right?

Now, I’m not promoting procrastination but there have been many times I delayed doing something and when I finally did it, I benefited even more than I originally thought I would.  You know, those times when something has happened or shifted in the meantime (while I was delaying) that intensified the beneficial end result.  Strange, huh?  If you think about it, I’m sure it’s happened to you also.

One of my clients had been talking about taking a specific action for many months, when I finally asked her if she really wanted to do what she said she wanted to do.  She did and through our conversation she realized that she had been putting it off because it wasn’t the right time to do it.  Sometimes timing is everything and that is a key piece.  Once she realized that, she gained a lot of peace and ease around it.

You can do the same thing. Ask yourself do you need to do this now?  If not, then you can postpone it and be on your way feeling good, feeling free and knowing that you will get it handled when the timing is right.

But wait… how is postponing “better” than procrastination?  If you look up procrastination in the dictionary (you don’t have to, I did it for you) it says:  to postpone doing something, especially as a regular practice.  So what is procrastination really?  It’s a habit.  A habit of doing something regularly so that it begins to be the way you are, how you are being.  Truthfully your way of being can make or break your success.  If you’re postponing on a regular basis, it’s a problem.

However, let’s leave off the ‘especially as a regular practice’ and take the part where it says “to postpone doing something”.  See, often in order to say ‘Yes’ to something we need to say ‘No’ to something else.  That can be hard to do!  Therefore we think we are procrastinating when we really are postponing.  Does that help take the sting off of you procrastinators?

Look, running your own business — heck your own life — has one challenge after another come up.  And that’s okay.  Lots of what we do is problem solve.  Being clear on whether you are postponing or procrastinating can mean all the difference between negative outcomes or positive outcomes.

Share below a time when you postponed something and discovered the pieces fell together in a better way. I know it’s happened to you!

Filed Under: Personal Development, Self Worth Tagged With: , ,
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